2011 Velocity Prep Program Analysis

1. 2011 Velocity Prep Program Analysis Laura Bellows Skillpoint Program Analysis Intern

2. Background Information on Participants This program was very helpful. I wanted to see if I really wanted to pursue a career in engineering. I was afraid when a person told us we would be working with other people most of the time. I like to be by myself. But finishing this program made me feel like I can deal with people. I really hope this program expands and reaches many people. I am only sad that I will not be able to participate next year. - ROBOTech senior

3. Demographic Information

4. Household Educational Attainment

5. Student Information • Grade Levels • 41.2% of ROBOTech participants were rising seniors. • 25.0% of GREENTech participants were rising seniors. • Diploma Programs • 100% of ROBOTech participants plan to graduate on Recommended or Distinguished Achievement Programs. • 3 GREENTech participants planned to graduate on Minimum;2 moved to Recommended.

6. Velocity Prep Impacts I used to think that an engineer is a person that builds houses or really big buildings. Now I am looking into being a biomedical engineer, which to my understanding is a mix of medicine and engineering. - ROBOTech junior Personally, the thing that impacted me the most was learning about what components that go into an electric system and seeing that I actually understood what each component’s role in the design was. - GREENTech junior

7. Likelihood of HS STEM Courses Note: Participants rated likelihoods from 1 (Very Unlikely) to 9 (Very Likely).

8. Likelihood of Postsecondary Education • Four-Year Colleges • Majority of participants reported planning to attend on pre-program survey. • ROBOTech participants “highly likely” to attend increased: 52.9% to 70.6%. • Two-Year Colleges • GREENTech participants “somewhat” or “highly likely” to attend increased: 70% to 80%. • Technical or Trade Schools • ROBOTech participants “somewhat” or “highly likely” to attend increased: 47.1% to 58.8% • GREENTech participants “somewhat” or “highly likely” to attend increased: 60% to 70%.

9. Career Preferences and Knowledge • ROBOTech participants increased their levels of awareness about STEM careers: mean of 3.47 to 3.82. • GREENTech participants increased their levels of awareness about the STEM job market: mean of 3.20 to 3.60. • Both ROBOTech and GREENTech participants uncertain about the minimum education they need to become STEM professionals.

10. Computer Skills • ROBOTech participants increased mean LabVIEW proficiency: 1.71 to 2.24. • GREENTech participants increased their abilities with Google SketchUp and certain features of Microsoft Excel. • Google SketchUp: 2.15 to 2.75. • Microsoft Excel for graphs/charts: 3.05 to 3.45. • Microsoft Excel for budgeting/finance: 2.30 to 3.25.

11. Participants’ College and Career Readiness • Perceptions of readiness for postsecondary education increased: • ROBOTech postsecondary readiness increased from a mean of 3.53 to 4.24. • GREENTech postsecondary readiness increased slightly from a mean of 3.50 to 3.60. • Perceptions of workforce readiness did not change much: • ROBOTech workforce readiness increased from a mean of 3.76 to 3.88. • GREENTech workforce readiness stayed at a mean of 3.75.

12. Conclusion Working in small companies, I got a taste of what the real world was like. It was hard but overall I feel like a better, harder worker. - GREENTech senior [In ROBOTech Velocity Prep] I was able to interact with the engineering environment and just be somewhere where I felt that I belong. - ROBOTech junior